Pear tarte tatin
This simple tarte tatin makes a great dessert when you have an excess of pears to use up.
Ingredients
- 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú caster sugar
- 5–6 pears, firm , small and ripe, peeled, cored and halved lengthways
- 320g pack ready-rolled puff pastry, defrosted if frozen
- icing sugar, to decorate
- cream or ice cream, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Melt the butter and sugar slowly over a medium–high heat in an ovenproof frying pan. Stir constantly until it reaches a pale straw colour, making sure the mixture does not burn. Add the pears cut-side up – it is best to place the pears in a circle around the pan, with a few in the middle. Cook the pears in the sugar mixture, stirring very occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until the sugar mixture turns amber.
Place the puff pastry over the top of the pan, tucking the edges around the rim of the pan. Use a sharp knife to poke a few air holes into the pastry. Bake in the oven for about 25–30 minutes or until the pastry is flaky and golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before running a knife around the edges of the pastry to loosen it from the pan.
Take a large plate that completely covers the top of the pan and pop the plate on top of the pastry. Wearing oven gloves, hold the top of the plate and the bottom of the pan and firmly flip the tarte tatin onto the plate. Lift the pan away and the tarte should have come off cleanly onto the plate. If not, remove any stuck pears and place them back onto the tarte. Dust with some icing sugar and serve with cream or ice cream.
Recipe Tips
If your puff pastry is frozen, remove from the freezer and allow enough time for it to come to room temperature. It is best to put in the fridge and allow it to defrost overnight. Of course, you can make your own pastry if you have the time.